Top 10 Moments in Proxy History (1994 to Today)

Top 10 Moments in Proxy History illustration: from the first web proxy at CERN to the takedown of a residential proxy botnet, ten moments that shaped how proxies work today, counted down 3jdej38j4

The countdown

Proxies are older than most websites. Here are ten moments, not strictly in date order but counted down by how much they still matter to anyone buying a proxy today.

10. PAC files arrive with Netscape (1996)

Netscape Navigator 2.0 introduced the proxy auto-config file, a tiny JavaScript function that decides which proxy each request uses. Companies still deploy them today. See PAC files.

Proxy facts that surprise even the pros (animated GIF) 3jdej38j4 — Proxy facts that surprise even the pros. GIF via Tenor

9. Squid caching proxy is born (1996)

Squid grew out of the Harvest research project and became the open-source proxy behind countless schools, ISPs and companies. Its default port, 3128, is still everywhere. See port 3128.

8. IPv6 is specified (1998)

RFC 2460 defined IPv6 and its enormous address space. It took decades to catch on, and its successor standard, RFC 8200, arrived in 2017. See IPv6 proxies.

7. robots.txt becomes an official standard (2022)

Proposed in 1994 and followed informally for decades, the robots exclusion protocol was finally published as RFC 9309. See robots.txt.

Proxy tip: A practical next step is to run a few requests through a commercial pool and watch what changes. Geonode supports HTTP, HTTPS and SOCKS5 and lets you switch between rotating and sticky sessions from the same endpoint. We walk through it in our Geonode proxies guide.

6. The courts weigh in on scraping (2019 to 2022)

In hiQ Labs v. LinkedIn, the Ninth Circuit considered scraping public profiles, and the Supreme Court's 2021 Van Buren decision narrowed the US anti-hacking law. Together they shaped how scraping of public data is viewed in the US. See are proxies legal?

The proxy industry reading court rulings (animated GIF) 3jdej38j4 — The proxy industry reading court rulings. GIF via GIPHY

5. The residential proxy botnet takedown (2024)

US authorities and international partners dismantled 911 S5, a residential proxy service built on malware-infected computers. It made ethical sourcing a buying question, not a footnote. See ethically sourced proxies.

4. The world runs out of IPv4 (2011)

IANA allocated its last free IPv4 blocks in February 2011. Scarcity made addresses an asset, and is a big reason IPv4 proxies cost what they do. See IP address facts.

3. Onion routing becomes Tor (1990s to 2002)

Research at the US Naval Research Laboratory on onion routing led to Tor, a chain of volunteer relays that apps reach through a local SOCKS proxy. See is Tor a proxy?

Budget tip: For jobs where a fixed IP list is enough, Webshare is one of the cheapest options: shared datacenter proxies are sold by the IP, and static residential (ISP) proxies cost well under a dollar per IP per month at the time of writing. More in Webshare's free proxy plan.

2. SOCKS5 is published (1996)

RFC 1928 standardised SOCKS version 5, with authentication and UDP support. Three decades later it is still the protocol of choice for non-web traffic. See SOCKS5 proxies.

1. CERN httpd becomes the first web proxy (1994)

The original web server, built at CERN where the web was invented, gained proxy and caching features in 1994. Every forward proxy, CDN and residential gateway since descends from that idea: let a server fetch the web for you. See what is a proxy?

Residential tip: If you want to try this on an ethically sourced residential pool, Rayobyte offers a free trial with no credit card, then pay-as-you-go traffic from $3.50 per GB that drops to $0.70 per GB at 1 TB. See choosing the right Rayobyte product.

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Sources and further reading

Independent references that back up the points above, from standards bodies, governments, universities and non-profits. They open in a new tab.

The birth of the web (CERN): CERN's history of the World Wide Web, where the first web proxy was built.
CERN httpd (Wikipedia): The first web server, which also became the first widely used web proxy.
RFC 1928: SOCKS Protocol Version 5 (IETF / RFC Editor): The original specification of SOCKS5, including UDP support and authentication negotiation.
911 S5 Botnet Dismantled (US Department of Justice): The 2024 takedown of a residential proxy botnet built from infected devices.
Squid Cache (Squid project): The open-source caching proxy many companies and hobbyists self-host.
RFC 8200: Internet Protocol, Version 6 (IPv6) (IETF / RFC Editor): The current IPv6 specification, the address format behind IPv6 proxies.
Van Buren v. United States (2021) (Supreme Court of the United States): The Supreme Court ruling that narrowed what "exceeds authorized access" means.

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Editorial note: Proxy providers change their pools, features and prices often, so treat any figures here as typical ranges at the time of writing and confirm current terms with the provider before you buy.